Medco wins pharmacy contract with Coventry Health

NEW YORK, June 23 (Reuters) - Medco Health Solutions (MHS.N) said on Monday it will provide pharmacy services starting next year for Coventry Health Care Inc (CVH.N), the sixth largest U.S. heath insurer by market value.

Medco, one of the largest U.S. pharmacy benefit managers, will provide mail, retail and specialty pharmacy services for all of Coventry's programs under Medicare, the U.S. health insurance program for seniors. Those programs cover about 1 million members with annual drug spending of more than $2 billion, Medco said.

Medco will also help with the administrative component of designing drug benefits for a broader group of Coventry members, Medco spokeswoman Ann Smith said.

Medco did not provide terms of the multiyear agreement. But Smith said the Coventry contract is larger than a contract with General Electric Co (GE.N) that Medco recently lost to CVS Caremark (CVS.N). (Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Derek Caney)